Around this time last year, I was finally tested and diagnosed with an allergy to gluten. The diagnosis was both exciting and frustrating — avoiding gluten all together definitely made me feel better, but having to be aware of ingredients in EVERYTHING was frustrating. Once you are educated about gluten and following a gluten free diet, you learn it is more than not eating flour-based foods like bread. Gluten can be found in everything from soy sauce to soups and salad dressings and candy. Even eating a grilled chicken breast can be a hazard if the marinade used has gluten in it. Carefully reading labels and asking a lot of questions or calling ahead at restaurants is a MUST. There is a certified GF symbol on packaged products that helps speed up the grocery shopping process and it is a life saver!
The gluten free options at the grocery store and restaurants are certainly more plentiful, but it is hard to know how things taste until you really try them. The worst thing is when you are excited to find a gluten free bagel in at the grocery store, and then eagerly toast it at home, but discover it tastes like cardboard. Some grocery stores like Whole Foods let you sample new products, but I never did that because I don’t want to be rude or feel like a free loader. I thought it would be helpful to create this round-up post of my favorite gluten free grocery store picks. I will say that no one grocery store has everything, but you just adjust or get things as you need them.
My top GF picks will be a little longer of a post because I’m including the grocery store and packaging for easy finding in case you want to try them:
Sandwich Bread: Schar Multigrain Bread (Tom Thumb, Walmart & Central Market; This has been my saving grace! I missed having tuna sandwiches because a lot of GF bread seriously tastes like cardboard. This tastes like the real deal!)
Pancake Mix: Pamela’s Baking and Pancake Mix (Central Market; You can still have fluffy pancakes for breakfast!)
Pasta: Ancient Harvest Garden Pagodas (Tom Thumb & Central Market; This really is the best tasting GF pasta that I have found and it doesn’t get sticky like Banza and other trendy GF brands.)
Salad Dressing: Primal Kitchen Green Goddess (Tom Thumb & Central Market)
BBQ Sauce: Stubbs Original (Tom Thumb & Central Market; I LOVE this sauce and use it so much!)
Chocolate Croissants: Schar Pain au chocolat (Central Market sometimes has them, so I stock up when they do! These are a fabulous weekend breakfast treat with your morning coffee!)
Cookie Dough: Immaculate Chocolate Chunk (Central Market; Make sure you grab the package that is labeled ‘GLUTEN FREE’ the regular chocolate chip cookie dough packaging is identical and easy to mix up when you are shopping in a hurry!)
Cookies: Tate’s Bake Shop (Tom Thumb & Central Market; There are no words because these are that good. You will still eat these as fast as the regular Tate’s cookies!)
Pie Crust: Gluten Free Nation Pie/Quiche Crust (Central Market; Seriously so good and not fussy when baking like some GF products.)
Puff Pastry: Schar Puff Pastry Dough (Central Market; This dough is wonderful — it gets flaky and bakes to a golden brown like regular puff pastry. Highly recommend this for holiday baking!)
Bagels: Canyon Bakehouse Blueberry Bagels (Tom Thumb; These are the real deal once toasted! I was probably most excited about this GF find!)
I hope this helps anyone who has to follow a GF diet! Have you tried any of my gluten free picks? What are some of your favorite GF options?
